EHIC card

Sorry Darro, I still don't see how your UK NI number instantly reveals your residential status! The Overseas resident NHS system that issues S1s ( Newcastle based, responsible for whole UK) isn't even automatically connected up with the various devolved NHS systems across the UK . This is not a comment on eligibility for EHIC/GHIC ( you are totally correct on all that), just that the UK government's IT systems don't have a great record for efficient connectivity and while of course Big Brother would very much like to automatically know everything, there is still a bit of a way to go...

When an S1 is issued, the records from your GP are requested by the NHS and stored by Primary Care Support England (there is no UK NHS anymore). These records are called for when a patient leaves the area or goes abroad. We used to send them to a place in Scotland for storage but that was when I was working for the NHS and we still had a NHS UK. If the patient has moved to another area in UK they are sent to the new practice but if they've moved abroad then they are stored by PCS and can be called for if the patient returns to UK.

There is a new system called GP2GP which means if you move from a place in England to another place in England your computer records will be transferred automatically but, if you move from say England to Scotland, they have to go to PCS for onward transmission as there is no system for GP2GP between the different UK countries which no have their own NHS.

We also had many requests from Primary Care Support services when an S1 was issued and it was the NHS number that was used, not the NI one although the NI is used for identification purposes.

You do not need the EHIC for treatment if you go back to UK as pensioners S1 is the only thing required. Practices should have Newcastle on speed dial to check if you've been issued the S1 which entitles you to treatment in UK. Another reason I tell people to take a copy of their S1 before processing it.

We're talking about EHIC's/GHIC's not S1's but it's all pretty moot as we've already established that Spanish residents, not being S1 holders or beneficiaries of the WA, are not entitled to either.

BTW if you think UK authorities are not joined up I'm sure it will come as a surprise to you that one of the first things DVLA want if applying for a new or replacement driving licence is your NI number!